Mary,
My first question: how large is the religious section in the nonfiction =
book area at your library?
Second: Do you purchase Contemporary Christian Compact Discs and =
Cassettes?=20
Third: Do you purchase inspirational fiction? =20
My point: buy enough religious videos that are appropriate for your =
collection so patron's won't feel the need to donate what they think is =
lacking. There are some very good materials out there. We have 28 =
shelves that contain religious videos, on the shelf right now. That's =
about 800+ videos, not counting the ones that are checked out. Of =
course, we have 20,000+ videos, so that's a drop in the bucket. What =
could be wrong with the VeggieTales? We have multiple copies of the =
complete set.
Under the Religion section, we also have Joseph Campbell, Buddhism, =
Catholic Videos, LDS, Jewish etc.....
Just my viewpoint---------->
Regards,
Carol Dunn

I'm a media specialist in a medium-sized public library. Lately we've =
noticed
a rather subtle campaign to get certain Christian materials into our =
collection.A donation of the complete Veggie Tales series - which we did =
add by the way -=20
and lately, and not so subtle, brochures from the Moody Bible Institute =
pushing
science videos with the Christian creationist viewpoint lying open on my
desk. Most of these titles have sweet names like "God's Rockin' World" =
and
"Newton's Workshop". My concern is that some librarians will fill their
shelves with these titles, they're inexpensive and often free, in a good
faith attempt to provide materials for their Christian population. I =
checked
our regional database and found that several of these titles are in =
library
collections. I believe, as do most professional librarians, in providing =
a
balanced viewpoint but in this case I think we must be very, very =
careful not
to bend over backwards so far that we can no longer see straight. My =
question isjust how far DO we go? Given recent events such as the Kansas =
Board of Education
not requiring the state's 304 school districts to teach the concepts of
evolution, I think librarians must be more vigilant and outspoken in =
this
confrontation. It seems that too many of us are afraid to speak out on =
this
topic. Among the many things creationists believe is that when God =
created
the earth app. 9,000 years ago, he also created fossils - I suppose as a =
sort
of test? How can we possibly put materials on our shelves that propose =
such
a theory? Creationism is NOT a science, it is a religious theory, plain =
and
simple, and it isn't even a theory that is adopted by most religious =
groups.
Pope John Paul II and many other religious leaders do not teach this =
concept
of creationism as proposed by evangelical religions. Another patron in =
our
community recently wanted to donate a 10 volume series on the =
creationist
viewpoint and we said thanks, but no thanks. I'd be interested to hear =
from
other librarians on how they're handling this problem - and I do think =
it's
a very serious problem.=20
Mary Gontarek
Owatonna Public Library
Owatonna, MN